Sewage spills again in Hudson Bayou neighborhood

A resident of the Hudson Bayou neighborhood heard the all-too-familiar sound of gurgling water about noon on Thursday and reported a sewage spill on the bank of the bayou.

City officials say the spill was caused by a broken valve and that sewage flowed from a two-inch pressure relief pipe before it was spotted. They estimate about 12,000 gallons of sewage spilled.

Sewage trucks were on Pomelo Avenue this afternoon, pumping the overflow from the pipe so it would not further pollute the bayou.

Officials at the scene said the response was quick. The city will conduct water tests in the area.

The spill occurred close to the city’s infamous Lift Station No. 7 on Pomelo Avenue, which was known for mechanical problems that led to spills of more than a million gallons of sewage into the bayou from 2004 to 2006. The lift station was supposed to have been decommissioned last year as a new lift station is brought online, but construction problems have led to delays.

The city now projects the construction will be complete in August 2015.

“This is kind of the unfortunate result of a stalled project,” said Susan Chapman, a neighborhood leader who has monitored the lift station and the city’s response for a decade.

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